UK Dept collectors gone mad again

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12132543High Street shops take justice into their own hands He was accused by staff of purposefully putting a cable worth £19.98 into a box with a tag of £18.16 - a difference of £1.82.Speaking to the 5 live Investigates programme, he said: "It was an honest mistake. If I didn't have my kids there it wouldn't have happened, I was just flustered."I had been at work the night before, I wanted to get back to watch the match."The police were called to the store, and Mr Findlay was arrested and immediately bailed.However, after watching CCTV footage and considering Mr Findlay's explanation, they told him they would take no further action. It seemed that he was vindicated.Demand for damagesTwo days after the incident, Mr Findlay received a letter from a company called Retail Loss Prevention (RLP).Acting on behalf of B&Q, RLP demanded £137.50 in damages to cover the cost of dealing with the incident - such as staff costs and administration.RLP works for a number of major High Street chains, pursuing so-called civil recovery claims against those accused of theft from shops. Such claims are often pursued without the involvement of the police or criminal courts.

Re: UK Dept collectors gone mad again

Jackie Lambert, of RLP, says: "The primary purpose of civil recovery is to deter future incidents of crime. Indeed, it is a proven deterrent with less than 3% of wrongdoers being involved in future incidents."

In law that isn't the purpose of civil action. The purpose of civil action is to repay to the victim a monetary amount equivalent to the damage caused. It's not meant to be deterant. That's why the burden of proof is on the balance of probabilities, and not the criminal level of beyond all reasonable doubt.. And perhaps the reason the re-offending rate is so good, is that they mainly chase innocent people who have made an honest mistake, so they wouldn't shoplift as a matter of course anyway!Finally - all High Street shops include a profit margin that covers them for shoplifting, so we're already paying for the genuine shop lifters "purchases".If a bona fide enforcement body behaved this way, we'd be hammered all over the press by the "we pay your wages" brigade.John

Re: UK Dept collectors gone mad again

The Law Commission is due to launch a consultation this spring on unfair consumer practices. Civil recovery will be included in their inquiry and this could lead to a recommendation for future legislation.You can hear the full report on 5 live Investigates on Sunday, 9 January at 2100 GMT on BBC Radio 5 live.